The typical hospital gown now in use is a simple garment with a body and two sleeves. The body has an opening, usually worn at the back, that is closed with a tie at the neck and a second time midway down the back. While garments of this sort have certain economic advantages, they are not well suited for use during many medical procedures and they are not well adapted for use in the case of long term convalescence.
Alternative gowns have been proposed where the sleeves may be opened along a seam extending along the mid line of the sleeve. This does allow access to the upper chest area by exposing the arms, but it does not allow unrestricted access to the whole chest for auscultation of chest and heart sounds, the attachment of EKG electrodes or cardiac massage. This type of access usually requires bringing the gown up from the leg area. In addition, where limited access to the chest is required, as for example for a subclavian catheter or for breast feeding an infant, the sleeve must be undone and large portions of the patient's body exposed, which is not desirable from the point of view of patient dignity.